If 1-0 baseball games aren’t your thing, perhaps a 468-307 final score might hold your attention? Last week, a charity game in Missouri lasted a record 100 hours and one minute. Sixty players and 42 umpires toggled between the diamond and an adjacent campsite for five days to complete the feat.
In today’s email:
Monk mode: Using tech to… avoid tech.
Video: The business of trademarking colors.
Star factor: Celebrity-brand partnerships are evolving.
Around the web: Notable sandwiches, 42 new World Heritage sites, a cool optical illusion, and more.
👇 Listen: Traditional celebrity product endorsements are so passe.
THE BIG IDEA
Screen time slowing you down? Try ‘monk mode’
Need to use less tech? The answer might be… tech.
2023-10-05T00:00:00Z
Sara Friedman
If you’ve ever found yourself watching TV with your computer on your lap while scrolling on your phone, then you know our tech use can sometimes get out of hand.
But with so many screens and notifications, what’s a modern-day consumer to do?
The answer, for some, is “monk mode,” the productivity trend inspired by — you guessed it — monks and the secluded, reflective lives they lead.
One-part detox and one-part productivity hack…
… the practice centers on abstaining from digital distractions in order to achieve deep focus.
While the approach itself is nothing new — entrepreneurs were talking about this back in the early 2000s — it’s recently taken off on social media. The hashtag #monkmode has 68.8m+ views on TikTok.
Ironically, those seeking enlightenment are using technology to stay offline:
The Freedom app, which allows users to block specific social sites or turn off internet access entirely, has 2.5m+ global users.
FocusMe lets users customize their website blocking (you can block all of Facebook with the exception of one group, for example).
Cold Turkey claims its website blockers are nearly impossible to break.
And for those who simply can’t survive without a touch of gamification, Forest lets users plant trees — both real and digital — each time they meet their focus goals.
Monk mode comes at a time…
… when many are trying to escape the constant cycle of notifications.
It’s just one of many recent tech trends bringing consumers back to basics:
Gen Z has an affinity for flip phones and outdated cameras.
There are clubs of young people dedicated to giving up technology.
Now go ahead, log off.*
*Just always make sure to open our emails.
Free Resource
Stop loafing. Start completing projects
“Let’s get a rundown on this important project you’ve been working on.”
Don’t panic — that was practice.
But the next time we inquire, please don’t be huffing and bluffing. Just pull up this project management doc, where we’ve already tidied up targets and tasks for everyone’s convenience. Wow.
A simple, three-part PM template for:
Preplanning
Getting shit done
Analyzing afterward
Another freebie by HubSpot, for increased organization.
Guests to Los Angeles’ Petersen Automotive Museum Gala will have a chance to bid on one of the first Tesla Cybertrucks ever produced. Of course, that means first dropping $1.75k+ on a ticket to the event, which will be hosted by comedian and car enthusiast Jay Leno.
SNIPPETS
The largest health care worker strike in US history began unfolding yesterday, when 75k+ unionized Kaiser Permanente employees went on strike after failing to reach a new contract deal. Kaiser’s system provides care for ~13m people across eight states.
Uber’s latest update is here to encourage your online shopping habit: Users can now request an Uber to drop off their return packages at a local post office, FedEx, or UPS outpost for a standard $5 rate.
Should have gotten a Rolex: Apple’s luxury gold smartwatches are now obsolete, meaning they can’t be repaired at Apple stores or authorized repair stores. At launch in 2015, they cost $10k-$17k.
Oops: An AI deepfake scam depicting MrBeast giving away 10k iPhone 15 Pros for $2 each — not entirely an unimaginable thing for the real YouTuber to do — appeared on TikTok, slipping by the platform’s human and AI mods.
Spotify Premium members in the UK and Australia can now access 150k audiobooks. US members will gain access later this year, with more markets to come.
Krispy Kreme put its majority stake in Insomnia Cookies, which it acquired in 2018, up for sale. The company said the move would allow it to focus on its core doughnut business.
Does your mall have a Cheesecake Factory? Moody’s Analytics data suggests it can indicate how financially healthy that mall is, as ~93% of Cheesecake Factory-occupied malls are current on their loan payments vs. ~72% for malls without the restaurant.
McDonald’s doesn’t lie: A judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against both McDonald’s and Wendy’s. The 2022 filing claimed the chains’ ads exaggerated the size of their beef patties. Burger King is still fighting a similar suit.
… except when it does lie: A year after McDonald’s ran a farewell tour for the McRib, saying the iconic menu item was gone for good, it’s… back? The boneless, BBQ pork sandwich will return to select locations next month.
Don’t miss this…
How did a book club turn into a $900m media company, and what does it mean for the future of media empires? Check out the latest issue of HubSpot’s marketing newsletter The Lead to find out.
Video
Watch: Can companies ‘own’ a color?
A few years back, Daniel Schreiber opened his mailbox to find a threatening letter from one of the world’s largest telecom companies.
In the letter, Deutsche Telekom AG (the parent company of T-Mobile) accused Schreiber’s small insurance startup, Lemonade, of trademark infringement. Schreiber was confused: He hadn’t used T-Mobile’s name or appropriated the company’s logo or tagline. Hell, he wasn’t even in the cell phone business.
But as he read on, he realized his “crime” was using the color magenta.
In recent years, companies like T-Mobile have achieved something once thought to be legally impossible: They’ve successfully trademarked individual colors.
When a color becomes synonymous with a brand — think robin-egg blue jewelry boxes, brown delivery trucks, or orange scissors — a company can claim a certain form of “ownership” over it.
But how is it possible for a single corporation to call dibs on a color? And what effect does this exclusivity have on its competitors?
Uh, why is Tom Brady in the office? How celebrity-brand partnerships are evolving
Brands are leaning on prominent figures to do more than just put their famous faces on TV.
2023-10-05T00:00:00Z
Mia Sullivan
Let it be known: celebs need health insurance, too.
Endorsements aren’t going out of style — celebrity spokespeople will continue hawking products unabated via ever-pervasive sponsored content.
But brands are finding new, clever ways to work with prominent figures, including adding them to their staff directories.
Delta takes a flier
Delta Air Lines recently bucked the typical sponsorship model when it announced that retired quarterback Tom Brady would be joining its team as a strategic adviser.
What does the job entail? Brady will primarily consult with Delta on developing training and team-building materials for employees, perFast Company.
Delta hopes Brady’s Super Bowl-winning teamwork and leadership skills will rub off on its employees. In exchange, Brady gains a long-term partnership that stabilizes him — and his bank account — following a 23-season NFL career that earned him $530m+.
Bringing in famous faces can really work
One successful example can be found in Sofia Richie Grainge, who joined Nudestix as the brand’s first Nude beauty director last year, supporting product development and brand growth. Grainge has also invested in the brand.
The partnership has been fruitful — when coverage of Grainge’s late-April wedding blew up on TikTok, the Nudestix products used for her bridal look saw a 2.8k% spike in sales.
As the entertainment industry grows more precarious — today is Day 84 of the SAG-AFTRA strike, and generative AI concerns are continually rising — evolved brand-celebrity partnerships could become an increasingly appealing avenue for big names to supplement their income.
Bottom line: You may want to familiarize yourself with these work conflict de-escalation tactics before your future deskmate clutters up all your shared workspace with their Golden Globe statuettes.
AROUND THE WEB
🚶 On this day: In 1974, Dave Kunst completed a 14.5k-mile circumnavigation of the Earth on foot. He left his hometown of Waseca, Minnesota, in June 1970, saying he was tired of his home, job, and wife.
🥪 Haha: Writers Talia Lavin and David Swanson are making their way through Wikipedia’s List of Notable Sandwiches. Recent highlights include the French dip and the fricassee.
🌍 That’s cool: UNESCO declared 42 new World Heritage sites, including Viking-age fortresses in Denmark and Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda, bringing the total to 1,172.
🤯 Cure boredom: With this optical illusion. (Not suitable for people who are sensitive to flashing lights.)
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